"Rekindling the Joy of Christmas"
Sermon Transcript for December 8, 2002 By Rev. Mike Beck
Few seasons trigger the memories that Christmas does. Let me invite each of you to think back for a moment on your childhood Christmas memories. I bet you don’t have to think very long do you? They pop right up. In a little house in the country that our family lived in, we boys slept upstairs in the attic room, came down through the bathroom, and then there was a tiny room that led in to the living room. And Mom and Dad’s bedroom was over to the right of the dining room. We’d always wake up about 3:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. I remember sliding on our bellies across the dining room floor hoping Mom and Dad wouldn’t see us. We wanted to check out the Christmas presents. When I was about 9 years old, I woke up first and went out in the shed the day after Christmas and found boxes labeled Sears and Roebuck—the same as my gifts. And this will date me, but some of you remember 8 mm movies at Christmas and those bright lights that you had to use! But I also vividly remember the Christmas evening at Mom and Dad’s when we received a phone call, it was about 5:00 p.m. in the evening, telling us that Granny Kidd, who was the matriarch of the family, that she had died in the nursing home, just like the date of it was yesterday.
Augusta Rundel said it well. He said, "Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but it will always be a day of remembrance – a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved." Isn’t that true? We want to reflect today on how to "rekindle the joy" of Christmas. And as we do so, we need first to remind ourselves of the very important difference between happiness and joy.
Happiness—there’s nothing wrong with being happy. I like to be happy. God enjoys it when I’m happy. But happiness is rooted in our circumstances—the stuff that’s going on in your life. But for those who have recently lost loved ones, who are struggling with illness, who are out of work this Christmas season, who may have recently dealt with a divorce—Christmas for them this year may not be particularly happy. For you see, happiness is dependent upon circumstances. But we can know "joy" even if we’re not experiencing happiness. For joy is something deeper. Joy is something within that is not dependent on circumstances. Joy is dependent on our relationship with God.
Today we look at Scrooge’s experiences with the Ghost of Christmas Past. The whole month of December we’re tying in the Charles Dickens’s classic story, "A Christmas Carol". Let me urge you because of that to re-read it or rent a video and watch it in its entirety again. Jacob Marley’s ghost had come on Christmas Eve to warn Scrooge that the consequences of his humbug life were far more serious than he could ever have realized. And he informed Scrooge that he would be haunted by three spirits as Christmas Day was ushered in.
The first would come as the clock struck one in the morning and Jacob Marley tells him "without their visit you cannot hope to shun the path I tread". And just as had been promised, an hour past midnight Scrooge was awakened by the Spirit of Christmas Past. Now, as we take a few minutes to look at what Scrooge observed about "his" past, I want to invite each one of you in your mind to make your own journey down memory lane. When you do you may discern some events that have shaped, some events that have often controlled your attitude toward Christmas—maybe even your whole attitude toward life.
If you remember the story, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge back to five scenes from his childhood. And those encounters, as Scrooge watches them, stir strong emotions within him and they give us a keener insight into the forces that have shaped this now miserable man. We see in this classic story of Scrooge that we can be robbed of joy by the memory of wounds we have received. If you remember the story, Scrooge was taken back to his boarding school. And he revisits his loneliness as a child; he revisits the rejection of his father and his implied putting in the boarding school. What painful memories do you bring from your childhood? And I’ll tell you, if you are one of the fortunate ones who have no painful memories from your childhood, thank God in this moment. What painful memories from previous relationships in the journey of your life? Hear me carefully, it’s very important to get a hold of those memories as painful as they may be. For it is profoundly true that the roots of humbug-itis, if we can call it that, are often found in the experiences of rejection and lost love in our past.
The story also reminds us that we can be robbed of joy by the memory of choices we have made. In his vision, Scrooge saw that the choices he had made in his early life had smothered the Christmas spirit and quenched his own joy. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows him an encounter, we’ll estimate 50 years previous, with his fiancée at that time, a girl named "Belle". If you recall that scene, she confronts Scrooge. They are engaged, but she comes to Scrooge’s office and she confronts him with the radical change she has observed in him since he has become a "man of business". She tells the young Scrooge, "Another idol has replaced me. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one until the master passion, gain, engrosses you." Mickey and I were watching, Dan, your musical version of Scrooge last night. And in the vision Scrooge is standing there. He sees Belle in the office ask him, "Scrooge, would you still have chosen me if you knew that I had nothing of wealth to bring to the marriage?" And then Scrooge cringes as he sees himself pause and give no answer. She takes off the engagement ring. And in a beautiful scene in this rendition, there is a little scale in Scrooge’s office. On one side there are two coins. She puts the ring on the other side of the scale. The two coins are what tip the scale, not the love.
Scrooge had dealt with his wounds through ambition and materialism. And those wounds had robbed him of love. But don’t we often deal with our wounds in similar kinds of ways? Let me suggest to you, we’ll try to mask our pain by overwork or the opposite in strained underachievement. Materialism we think will stop the glide. We’ll see their pain. We’ll try to excessively control the world around us. Some persons turn to alcohol to soothe the pain. In our days, some persons turn to pornography on the Internet to deal with the wounds of rejected life. Some just hopelessly resign themselves to life. But we will never be free until we face our painful memories and allow the living Lord to touch them.
The good news that Jesus came to bring is that in spite of our past—friends in spite of your past, you can choose joy! For in the worst of circumstances, life is not all darkness and gloom, even for Ebenezer Scrooge. The Ghost of Christmas Past, in these five scenes, also that night showed Scrooge a memory of joy with the hope of future promise. Scrooge was taken back to Old Fezziwig’s Ball on Christmas Eve. A party that helps Scrooge recall that perhaps the pleasures of life and love are indeed more important than riches. Let’s watch.
VIDEO CLIP
At one time Scrooge had tasted the joys of life. We could say he enjoyed the dance, literally and figuratively. Why? Because at that time in his life he saw that there was more to life than production and profits. But he became consumed by his business. If only he had remembered how different his life might have been!
Our memories can remind us that things have been different before and they can be truly different again. With God’s help, we can take steps to rekindle the joy of Christmas. Our memories, when they are placed in the loving, tender hands of God, instead of being barriers the memories become bridges to joy and freedom in our lives!
Choose to focus on the memories that bring us joy: We can first of all choose to focus on the memories that bring us joy. Do that. Each one of you this Christmas take time to savor the memories and let them awaken within you the full range of life-giving feelings. In my study at home, third drawer down on the right, it’s filled with notes from people over my 19 years of ministry. When I get discouraged I open the drawer and pull out a few of them and read them. They are beautiful.
Let God touch and redeem the painful memories: I don’t want to be overly simplistic here. Time won’t allow me to develop this important reality of God’s healing grace. And the transformation, when you are willing to get out those painful memories, often takes considerable time. It may require a good Christian counselor. The process may be painful at times as it was for old Scrooge when you revisit the previous hurts, the wrong decisions you have made in life. But God through the power of His Holy Spirit can "heal our memories". Though the scars may remain, the end result…seeing Stan Jones out there—we congratulate him for being named the "National Chaplain of the Year". Stan, you discovered when people are willing to do that they end up stronger, they end up wiser, and they end up more compassionate actually because of some of the painful stuff in your life. That’s what Bill and Gloria Gaither were trying to describe when they penned these words. They wrote, "If there ever were dreams that were lofty and noble, they were my dreams at the start. And the hopes for life’s best were the hopes that I harbored, down deep in my heart. But my dreams turned to ashes; my castles all crumbled; my fortunes turned to loss. So I wrapped them all in the rags of my life, and laid them at the cross." That’s the prelude to the beautiful chorus we sing, "Something beautiful; something good. All my confusion: He understood! All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife. But He made something beautiful of my life."
Get my wife alone sometime with a little time. Let her talk to you about how broken your pastor has been in a couple of periods of his life. I’m living testimony that God can do that. And God can do it for you as well. Let God redeem the painful memories.
Invite someone to be with us: And then, finally, we can rekindle the joy of Christmas by inviting someone to be with us in this holy season. That’s what we see in Mary following the visit from the angel where she learned she would conceive and give birth to the Messiah. Friends, she was 13 or 14 years old. She’s been told you haven’t had intercourse with a man but you are going to have a baby. And that baby, by the way, is going to be the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. Put yourself in her shoes. I’d be scared; I’d be worried about the future. What did she do? She sought out someone to be with her. She went to be with her cousin, Elizabeth, who herself was pregnant with the child who would become John the Baptist. Mary found a spiritual partner and they encouraged and shared with one another. There are some incredible stories here at Grace Church of God’s healing in people’s lives. But do you know where it begins? It always begins with them letting their need be known. Without the need being known, we can’t mobilize the troops. If joy is missing in your life today, reach out to God and to some person who can be "God’s love with skin on it" during this Christmas season. And pray that God may want you to be that person in someone else’s life.
Greg Asimakoupoulos has written some wonderful words that relate to our theme and set them to the tune of "Angels We Have Heard on High". They are on the screen. Let these words be your prayer to God as we stand and sing them together.
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